Today, the use of smart card has become more and more common in everyday life. For example, many credit cards, debit cards, identification cards, insurance cards, etc. are made of smart cards. In general, many conventional smart cards include storage media and processing modules, and thus, are more useful and powerful than cards having conventional magnetic strips. Some conventional smart cards provide digital certificates to allow users to authenticate themselves in order to access their financial accounts, healthcare records, etc. Typically, a smart card has to be physically coupled to a smart card reader (e.g., inserted into, or put onto), which is a dedicated device for communicating with smart cards. The smart card reader may be further connected to a computer, a workstation, a special-purpose machine (e.g., a cash register), etc., which may communicate with the smart card via the smart card reader.
One problem with the above system is the need of the smart card reader. In order to enable a computer to communicate with smart cards, one has to spend extra money to purchase the smart card reader. For an entity (e.g., a company, a library, etc.) that has many computers, it may become costly to purchase a smart card reader for every computer.
The above system also suffers from a potential security loophole. Users often forget to remove their smart cards when they leave the computer. Conventional smart card readers typically do not remind users to remove their cards when they are done. As a result, a user may leave his smart card in the smart card reader inadvertently and an unauthorized individual may use the smart card left behind to log onto the computer. This poses a security threat to the entire system.